About 150 people from 18 states checked into the Desoto Hotel in Savannah last weekend for the Southern Garden History Society's 32nd annual meeting. The two-day event included talks by landscape-design and preservation experts, and tours of gardens that traditionally are not open to the public. On the third day, according to SGHS Immediate Past President Lucy Hitch, attendees are offered the opportunity to tour additional sites that are a bit further away from the conference.